Eating In Translation

Grilled banana roll vendors

You'd think this could be managed as a one-person operation, but two's company.

Nam Giao

My brunch began to snap, crackle, and pop after I poured on the clam broth.

Citimarket Saigon

They make an interesting couple (330 ml.; about 5,000 dong each): Zizy lemon soda comes on like tart, carbonated lemonade, while Thums Up brand Xáxi conjures up black cherry and liquorice.

The beers were less interesting:
Dai Viet bia vang (330 ml.; 6,500 dong). Pale yellow with a short-lived cream-colored head that left a faint tracery on the glass; aroma, flavor, and aftertaste of fermented vegetables.
Dai Viet bia den (330 ml.; 9,000 dong). Ditto, but darker.
333 (330 ml.; 7,800 dong). Pale yellow with a scant white head. Scant aroma, too; astringent mouthfeel, with the flavor of vegetable matter.
Larue Export (330 ml.; 7,000d). Amber with a foamy white head; hoppy aroma foreshadowed a little too much bitterness.

Citimarket Saigon
39 Le Duan, Ho Chi Minh City
(From a November 2006 visit)

Duc Phat Bakery

The personal pie called pizza thuong (10,000 dong) — loosely piled with sausage, onions, peppers, mushrooms, and cheese — is best eaten with a knife and fork, especially if you dose it with chili sauce.

Duc Phat Bakery
180 Hai Ba Trung, Ho Chi Minh City
(one of many locations)
(From a November 2006 visit)

Sinh Do Bakery

This pizza thit (with a silent "h" no less; 4,000 dong) rests on a thin, crisp crust that's compelling in a freezer-case-to-microwave sort of way. Dessert was a xoi vi (3,500 dong), coconut custard sandwiched between pandan-flavored and black sticky rice.

Sinh Do Bakery
196 Hai Ba Trung, Ho Chi Minh City
(one of many locations)
(From a November 2006 visit)

Sugar cane juice cart

Across from the zoo and the history museum, walk-up customers are welcome, too.

Sidewalk mini-café

All you need to run a refreshment stand in Ho Chi Minh City, it seems, are a few chairs and a little ledge by your front door, though it helps to live on the shady side of the street. This Number 1 brand soda (4,000 dong) was pineapple-flavored.

Sidewalk mini-café
Duong Nguyen Trung Truc, Ho Chi Minh City
(From a November 2006 visit)

Streetside hamburger cart

On a fluffy bun with lettuce, green slices of tomato, ketchup, and hot sauce, the thin-pounded beef on this "hamburger" was little more than another garnish.

Roaming coconut vendor

Not for tourists only: I spotted a few locals drinking from coconuts, too, though I expect they didn't pay 30,000 dong (at the time, about a buck eighty-nine, like my weight). But figure in a photo fee for a wide-eyed visitor on his first day in Vietnam, and this fellow set a fair enough price.

Roaming coconut vendor
In front of the Fahasa bookstore, 60 Le Loi, Ho Chi Minh City
(From a November 2006 visit)